


The Day Everything Changed

by CaptainWeasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, First Kiss, I refuse to believe that Lavender died, M/M, this has probably been done a million times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 07:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5489156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainWeasley/pseuds/CaptainWeasley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the eve of the Battle of Hogwarts, Dean and Seamus are finally reunited, and with that comes an important realisation for Seamus...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Day Everything Changed

"We got your message, Neville!"

Luna said something else, but Seamus wasn't really listening. Behind her he could see Dean, and suddenly he felt like a man dying of thirst who had just been gifted all the water in the world. He ran towards his friend with a roar of delight, not caring one bit what the others were thinking. He had never really realised just how much he had missed Dean, Seamus thought as he hugged him as tight as he could. Seeing him now... It was like seeing the light for the first time after years of darkness.

There was a feeling in his gut that he had never felt before, a strange sensation not unlike stomach pains, but much more pleasant somehow. When he let go of Dean, he felt strangely bereft, and for a moment he had a very strong urge to pull Dean towards him and kiss him—Seamus blinked. This explained so much, and yet it made everything much more complicated at the same time.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking to Neville while more and more people entered the room through the hole in the wall; but Seamus wasn't really paying attention to the goings-on. He was standing next to Dean, one arm still around him, and Dean was proving to be quite a distraction. Seamus found he couldn't really concentrate on anything or anyone else. Dean seemed to be listening to the conversation in the centre of the room, but he had an arm around Seamus' shoulder, his grip firm, as though he were afraid of the moment he had to let him go. Seamus' heart beat faster at that thought; maybe Dean felt the same way he did. It was unlikely, but definitely not impossible, and a guy could dream, right?

"We're fighting, aren't we?" It was easy to concentrate on Dean's voice, Seamus found, he was the only person he actually wanted to listen to right now. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though—"

He was going to fight without a wand? Had he gone insane over the last months?

"You haven't got a _wand_  —?" he began, looking at Dean in shock. "What happened to it?"

Dean was looking at him, and Seamus thought that he had never seen more beautiful eyes than his. Then he mentally slapped himself. What was going on with him?

"Got taken by Snatchers."

"Snat—You— _What_?"

He was staring at Dean in disbelief, and even though he wanted to hear the whole story desperately, part of him was afraid of what that story would entail. He didn't even want to imagine what Dean had gone through those last few months, _taken by Snatchers_ ; Seamus wished he could somehow go back in time and stop this all from happening... But if there was someone who could stop this, it was probably Harry, who seemed to be discussing something with Ron and Hermione.

"Yeah, I was there when they found those three." Dean nodded towards the infamous trio.

"They _found_ —"

Seamus was interrupted by a loud announcement from Harry at this point.

"OK. There's something we need to find."

The whole room listened intently as Harry discussed some kind of lost diadem with the Ravenclaws, and even Seamus managed to follow the conversation this time. As long as it helped defeat You-Know-Who, Seamus wanted to help in any way he could. Dean would never be safe otherwise, and that was something he couldn't allow.

 

XxX

 

When Harry and Luna were gone, the atmosphere changed noticably. It seemed like everyone was getting ready for battle. Many people took out their wands, some practiced spells under their breath, Fred and George were making loud jokes in a corner. More and more people arrived through the portrait hole, Neville seemed to have reached quite a number of them.

Seamus pulled Dean a few feet away from the others; knowing Harry, this diadem business would take its time.

"Tell me everything. How did you escape the Snatchers? I doubt they just let you go to join the fight here."

Dean grinned.

"It was Harry, Ron and Hermione, of course. I still don't know if I should have expected that or not... Everyone and their mother's been rescued by them, but you still never see it coming."

"But didn't you say they were taken, too?"

It took some time for Dean to tell the full story of how he and Griphook had travelled together, how the Snatchers had brought them and the trio to Malfoy Manor, how an elf called Dobby had got them out just in time, how he had died saving them; and Seamus was glad to learn that Dean had spent the last weeks at Shell Cottage, safely hidden from Snatchers and Death Eaters.

"But what happened to you? You look horrible, you know."

Seamus shrugged.

"Oh, that's nothing. You should have seen Michael when the Carrows were through with him..."

Dean's expression switched between shock and rage as Seamus told him about the Carrows' way of running Hogwarts.

"All that time I was on the run, I thought at least you were safe!" Seamus had never heard Dean's voice sound so furious. "That was the one thought that kept me going... Oh, they are going to pay for what they did to you."

It was both terrifying and amazing to see Dean like that; Dean, who never hurt a fly, who did his best to avoid all conflict, who liked to sit by the lake with a sketch-pad even more than he liked playing Quidditch.

Seamus couldn't help wondering if maybe this meant that Dean reciprocated his—whatever it was he felt for him. The whole situation was absurd, him having butterflies in his stomach when he looked at Dean, and Dean talking about revenge, actually wanting to fight others, all because of him, Seamus...

"Thanks, mate," Seamus said seriously. Even if his feelings were one-sided, Dean was his best friend and that would never change.

 

XxX

 

A jet of green light from Dolohov's wand narrowly missed Dean, and Seamus' heart skipped a beat. If something were to happen to Dean—he couldn't even picture it, the thought was too horrible, he couldn't lose Dean, not now, not right after being reunited with him, not when he had never even told him how much he loved him.

Seamus pointed his wand at Dolohov.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Dolohov fell to the floor just as Parvati's stunning spell hit Travers. Seamus ran over to the two of them. One moment of fearing for Dean's life had put everything in perspective for him, he knew what he had to do with a sudden, almost terrifying clarity. He was in love with Dean, there was no doubt about that any longer. Seamus wondered briefly when he had started to develop feelings for his friend, and how he had managed to suppress them until now; but ultimately, it didn't matter.

Seamus didn't care that they were in the middle of a war, that more Death Eaters could come into the room at any moment, didn't care that Parvati was watching. He pushed Dean against the wall behind him and pressed his lips to Dean's fiercely.

Time seemed to stand still, both of them in shock for a second. Seamus almost couldn't believe that he had actually done it, and for a moment he was afraid it had been a mistake. Then Dean pulled him closer and kissed him back, and Seamus had never felt so happy.

Before today, he had never really thought about kissing anybody, somehow the concept had never seemed appealing to Seamus. Then again, before today he had never considered that kissing Dean could be an option, and this was something that he definitely wanted to do again. Preferably every day from now on.

Dean was the most beautiful thing Seamus had ever tasted, and unlike him, Dean seemed to actually know what he was doing. Seamus almost started laughing. He was probably making a fool of himself, this kissing business seemed to be something you needed to practice a bit before getting it right. There were so many things to concentrate on—what to do with his lips, with his tongue, what _Dean_ was doing with his lips and his tongue; and then Seamus remembered that he should be doing something useful with his hands, but when he started thinking about that, suddenly he had no idea what he was doing with his mouth.

Someone behind Seamus started shouting curses and he and Dean broke apart, panting. Kingsley Shacklebolt was duelling Bellatrix Lestrange, and Dean and Seamus ran to his aid. Seamus was unable to stop grinning, even while he was fighting. He had kissed Dean, there was nothing that could hurt him now.

 

XxX

 

Neither Seamus nor Dean mentioned their kiss over the next hours, there was simply too much else going on. Between fighting Death Eaters, Harry's apparent death, the siege of the castle, Harry's return and his final triumph over Voldemort, there wasn't really time to have a deep conversation about feelings.

Everybody was gathered in the Great Hall when all was over, celebrating and mourning alike, but there was only one person Seamus wanted to talk to. He had no idea where Dean was, he had tried to stay close to him, but in the tumult following Voldemort's death, they had lost sight of each other. Seamus walked up and down the tables until he finally found him, sitting next to Luna Lovegood, looking somewhat lost. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Dean, his stomach fluttering.

"Hey." He grinned at Dean, who looked up in surprise. He smiled when he saw Seamus, and the only thought in Seamus' mind was that he wanted to see Dean smile like that every day.

"Wanna get out of here?" Out of the corner of his eye, Seamus could see Parvati whisper something to the heavily bandaged Lavender sitting next to her, and both girls started giggling.

"Sure," Dean replied, grinning. Apparently, he hadn't missed the reaction of the girls either, and he winked at them as he stood up from the table, which made them only giggle harder.

"I don't think those two will ever change," Dean said fondly as they walked towards the doors of the Great Hall.

They talked about trivial things as they made their way towards the castle grounds, even discussed the fight between Harry and Voldemort for a few minutes, while Seamus tried to think of how best to say what he wanted to say. He was more nervous than he liked to admit, and he had to remind himself more than once that Dean had kissed him back, that Dean was here with him now, that he wouldn't be if he didn't want to have this conversation.

They had reached the lake in no time, and the speech that Seamus had tried to formulate in his head had mysteriously vanished all of the sudden. They sat down under one of the trees, and Seamus watched the stunning sunrise for a few moments, making up his mind about what he wanted to say.

"You know I've never done this," he began, keeping his eyes on the lake, deep inside him there was still the fear that Dean would reject him, that what had happened during the battle had been a mistake, that in the real world his feelings weren't reciprocated. "I just... When I saw you today, I realised how much I'd missed you all those months, and then when you were almost killed—"

Seamus remembered the moment vividly, the fear of losing Dean, the sudden realisation that his feelings for him were deeper than friendship, much deeper. Somehow, the thought gave him courage to continue talking.

"I love you. I mean, I really, really love you."

He looked over at Dean, who was shaking his head at him, grinning.

"I had to almost die before you got that? I knew I was in love with you the first week I went into hiding."

Seamus gaped at him, dumbstruck.

"You... what?"

"I kept thinking of you constantly, wondering what you were doing, hoping you were safe, wishing you were there with me... It drove me crazy, and after a few days of that I just had to accept that I was in love with you." He shrugged, still smiling.

Seamus shook his head. "I'm a bit thick sometimes, I think."

"Yeah, you are." Dean laughed.

They were kissing again after that, Seamus wasn't quite sure how that had happened, but he seemed to be getting the hang of this now. Dean's skin felt wonderful against his own; Seamus had one hand in his hair, pulling Dean towards him, he needed him closer, so much closer. It was a strange sensation to _want_ Dean, strange and unfamiliar, and yet it felt so right.

"I've never felt like this," he whispered when they broke apart, tracing the lines of Dean's face with his fingertips. His heart was beating fast, his skin was tingling. "Can we make this a thing?"

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"A _thing_?"

"You know, you and me, being together, kissing and stuff."

Seamus gestured with his hands somewhat helplessly.

"Like a relationship?"

"Yeah, like a relationship."

Dean grinned at him.

"Just promise me that next time there's a big wizarding war and I have to go into hiding, you're coming with me."

Seamus started grinning, too.

"Don't worry, I'll be there."


End file.
